This will be a short one......mostly because my stupefaction at learning this little fact is still overwhelming most of the synapses in my brain.
I happened to be listening to NPR this morning on the drive to work. I love me some NPR. Anyway, some economist was being interviewed. They were discussing the stimulus bill and things that are right about it and wrong about it. Normally, I take what I hear with a grain of salt. Listening to this gentleman, my approach was no different. He said something though that struck me.
Evidently, our Federal government has been spending more than it has been taking in in tax revenue for so long that every bit of tax that you and I will pay in January, February, March, April, and part of May this year will be just enough to cover the interest on our national debt. Are you shitting me, you ask? I am not, I say, because you are my favorite turd. Nearly half a years tax revenue just to cover the interest? WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Even if it isn't really that bad, the implications are horrifying.
I don't claim to be an economist, or an expert, or even that smart but day-um. If you and I arbitrarily spent more than we take in for several years, we would be S C R E W E D!!! In fact, they would probably bring back debtors prison just to handle us and yet the geniuses on Capitol Hill (and I am referring to both sides of the isle here) not only have been doing it, but continue to do it. I may be completely wrong here and if I am, I hope someone corrects me but does it seem like we are blaming the wrong people/decisions for our current predicament?
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Well if it makes you feel any better, Countrywide was ordered to pay $17.4 Million in restitution to former homeowners in Texas for not discussing in detail the conditions of the Sub-Prime Mortgage Contract. Apparently these people, who couldn't afford their homes to begin with, can't read either.
ReplyDeleteThat is my point exactly!!!! There is no question that consumers and lenders alike should shoulder some of the blame but I am becoming less and less convinced that either of those parties, or any of the others who have been blamed, is at the root of our current economic crisis.
ReplyDeleteI am beginning to wonder if this wasn't a path that we have been on for a long time and those that have lead us down that path are the same folks who are now scurrying to stimulate the economy. (By sinking the government deeper into debt I might add)